Unequal Service: The Forgotten Athletes of NIL and the Legal Paradox of Military Amateurism

By Maya Moise, M.S. Candidate, Sports Management, Columbia University, B.A., Sport Management (Sport Law) & B.A., Kinesiology, Rice University Abstract This article examines a growing asymmetry in modern college athletics: service academy athletic programs increasingly participate in the commercial economy of Division I sports, while the cadets and midshipmen whose performances help generate that value remain largely excluded from athlete compensation. At Army, Navy, and Air Force, cadets ar